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Updated: Nov 11, 2025

Author Spotlight: In Vivo Whole-Brain Imaging of Zebrafish Larvae Using Three-Dimensional Fluorescence Microscopy
Published on: April 28, 2023
A protocol for simultaneous Ca2+ and morphology imaging of brain endothelial tip cells in larval zebrafish
Ting-Ting Liu1,2, Han Hou1, Jiu-Lin Du1,2,3
1Institute of Neuroscience, State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai Research Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue-Yang Road, Shanghai 200031, China.
Abstract:
Endothelial tip cells (ETCs) located at growing blood vessels display high morphological dynamics and associated intracellular Ca2+ activities with different spatiotemporal patterns during migration. Examining the Ca2+ activity and morphological dynamics of ETCs will provide an insight for understanding the mechanism of vascular development in organs, including the brain. Here, we describe a method for simultaneous monitoring and relevant analysis of the Ca2+ activity and morphology of growing brain ETCs in larval zebrafish. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Liu et al. (2020).

